Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-09-01
WASHING BUTTER.
When to Do It and tho Proper Way 81
Drawing tho Buttormilk.

WASHING BUTTER.
when to Do It and the Proper Way .,
Drawing tho Buttermilk.
The custom of stopping the churn
when the butter is in granular form il
fast becoming universal. The precise
point of stoppage varies with different
dairymen. Some say that if the gran
ules of butter are larger than mustard
seed or bird shot, the sailing will be
found uneven. and that under micro
scope the butter will show the gran
ules unbroken and white in their CEN
ters; but when as fine as mustard
seed, this appearance is not observed.
Others insist on larger granulas. up to
the size of plump wheat kernals. o
course they will not all be of the same
size. but average in general appear
ance the size Indicated.
When to wash. When the cream
first breaks and becomes more fluid,
indicated by smashing sound. and
better by the appearance of small par
ticles of butter. the churn should be
stopped for the purpose of rinsing the
cover and all sides with cold water.
The water ought to have as low tenn
perature as forty-eight or fifty de-
grees Fahrenheit. that it may serve the
purpose of reducing the temperature
of the granulated butter to fifty-five
degrees or SO, as we'll as rinse down
any unchurned particles of cream,
This will prevent the granules from
Cd 10 oil
smashed or broken by careful handling.
After the rinsing, revolve the churn un-
til the granules have assumed the de-
sired size.
Drawing the buttermilk. There is
sometimes trouble about getting the
butter to clearly separate from the but
termilk at this point This occasions
difficulty in drawing of the butter
milk, which takes the butter along
with it. Much, however, depends on
the size Of the stream drawn, large
one causing more draft But it Is
claimed that a handful or two of salt,
according to the size of the churning,
thrown into the churn, the churn then
being slightly agitated SO as to dissolve
and mix the salt with the buttermilk,
causes free separation of the butter
from the buttermilk at once. This
may be due to the fact that the salt
coagulatesthe small amount of albumen
in the cream. Where this is not in
excess, probably there is no trouble in
getting the butter to separate and
float on the surface of the butter
milk. as it should. But If any
butter runs off with the buttermilk,
and the latter is drawn into a clean
vessel, there is little trouble in skim
ming it off and returning it to the
mass. Besides, the drawing off Of
buttermilk may be done through a
strainer. AL these small difficulties,
over which some people appear to
stumble so badly, might be overcome
by the exercise of little Judgment
when they arise.
After the buttermilk is drawn, pour
into the churn enough cold water to
nicely float the butter, agitAte the
churn gently, and then draw off the
water. Repeat this operation until the
water runs clear. A great many dairy
men give one washing in weak brine.
This can be done without trouble by
throwing salt into the churn, agitating
the mass little, and letting it stand
until the salt is dissolved. This need
not be more than q few minutes,
if the salt is fine and soluble-and
none but the purest of dairy salt should
be used. Cheap salt is liable to con-
tain ingredients that will attack the
butter, and hence can not be washed
out. Much of the dairy salt used CON-
tains so much alkali that it is injurious.
and alkali of course. uniting with the
fats to form soap. Hence. all cheap
and common salts should find no place
in the dairy. If little salt. enough to
form saturated brine, is dissolved in
a tumbler, and piece of litmus paper
is dipped into the solution, the alkali
will turn the paper blue. If it does
the salt is unfit for the dairy. This is
an easy test for quality of salt
After the last washing, the butter
should stand and drain until just
enough water is left in it to
dissolve the required amount of
salt A little experience will soon
enable the dairyman to determine
this point very closely. If the batch is
large, it will require longer time to
drain than a small batch would. So it
the butter is left in mass in the churn,
it will require longer time to drain
than it would if dipped out onto table
or butter-worker, and spread out
There is no occasion, in the latter case,
for working the butter in the least.
The 1ooser it can be kept, the better;and
the low temperature to which the butter
will have been reduced by the repeat
ed washings in cold water will make it
easy to keep it in loose, ganular
form. Washing butter. before or after
sailing, is obsolete, and useless, if not
injurious, expenditure of labor force.
Considerable is said about the effects
of washing butter. Some contend that
it washes out the sugar and other in
gradients which they consider valuable.
This is plainly mistake. Only
Gaseous and foreign matters are
washed out, the water attacking none
of the fats and oils. Whatever will
wash out ought to be washed out, in-
Guiding the sugar which is bad ele-
ment in either butter or cheese. In
the latter. it very soon turns to acid,
and in cream much soured it has al
ready turned to acid before churning.
If it is not, depend upon it the sugar
Is such an unstable article that it will
not long remain in the form of sugar.
It will soon break up and its elements
will form new chemioa combin atoms.